Iowner of Property

Theme XV: Westward Expansion, 1830-1898 Form NO io-3oo (Rev 10-74) Mining Frontier of the Trans-Mississippi West UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OH THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS ____________TYPE ALL ENTRIES - COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS______ NAME HISTORIC Virginia City. Montana AND/OR COMMON Virginia City. Montana (LOCATION STREET& NUMBER —NOT FOR PUBLICATION CITY. TOWN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Virginia City —. VICINITY OF First STATE CODE COUNTY CODE Montana 30 Madison 057 HCLASSIFICATION CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENT USE DISTRICT —PUBLIC ^OCCUPIED —AGRICULTURE -XMUSEUM _ BUILDING(S) —PRIVATE —UNOCCUPIED X_COMMERCIAL —PARK _ STRUCTURE -&OTH _ WORK IN PROGRESS —EDUCATIONAL .^PRIVATE RESIDENCE —SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE X-ENTERTAINMENT —RELIGIOUS —OBJECT —IN PROCESS —YES: RESTRICTED ^-GOVERNMENT —SCIENTIFIC —BEING CONSIDERED JCYES: UNRESTRICTED —INDUSTRIAL —TRANSPORTATION _NO —MILITARY —OTHER: IOWNER OF PROPERTY NAME Office of the Mayor; Bovey Restorations (major owner); Bureau id Management (part of Section 26, T6S, R2W)_________ STREETS. NUMBER CITY, TOWN STATE Virginia City —VICINITY OF Montana LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS,ETC Madison County C STREET & NUMBER CITY. TOWN STATE Virinia Cit Montana [1 REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE ______Historic American Bin' Miners DATE 1964 X.FEDERAL —STATE —COUNTY —LOCAL DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS Division of Prints and Photographs, Library nf C CITY. TOWN STATE Washington. District of Columbia DESCRIPTION CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE —EXCELLENT _DETERIORATED —UNALTERED —ORIGINAL SITE _&OOD —RUINS )C-ALTERED XMOVED DATE _FAIR _UNEXPOSED Some buildings DESCRIBETHE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Tucked into the foothills of the Tobacco Root Mountains of southwestern Montana, where Daylight Gulch joins /(ql'er Gulch, Virginia City is the sole survivor of a string of mining camps that once lined Alder Gulch for nearly twelve miles. Before the end of the first year after the initial gold strike all of the avail able claims in the gulch were located and it was lined with cabins and sluices and camps. Nearly all of them but Virginia City were demolished by later, large mining operations. Virginia City, once the most famous and promising settlenient*in the Montana Territory, remains as a collection of old frontier mining structures, fortu nately spared the fate of her sister mining camps and preserved because it was never completely abandoned: neither did it ever revive or grow after the third quarter of the 19th century. A good number of original buildings are extant, although undoubtedly a great number have just fallen apart or been scavenged for parts or firewood. Some old buildings still in use have been remodeled, but in the past three decades a good number have been repaired and restored as the tourist potential of the historic town has been developed by several groups, most prominantly Bovey Restorations. Basically a main street town, built along a gulch, on a road which runs east-west through the mountains, Virginia City c. 1864-66 had an estimated population of 10,000 all drawn there within a short time of the original strike in 1863, by the promise of gold. Like all the frontier boom towns, especially in such remote territory, it was quickly built of whatever makeshift materials were available, mostly temporary shelters for the constantly drifting prospectors. More sub stantial buildings, especially commercial buildings on the main street, were soon constructed as the town quickly became the major town and then the capital, of the territory. In 1864 a town plan with many named streets, including several parks and even a capitol square, was designed but the town never developed beyond the main street and several square blocks. Virginia City today retains many of the characteris tics considered typical of the western frontier towns. Many of the old buildings are framed in hewn logs covered with sawed pine siding, with additions extending haphazardly around them. Under the weathered sheathing— horizontal or vertical, and often both, in irregular patterns and patched with shingles and tin—original log construction can sometimes be seen. A few build ings are of brick or cut igneous rock. Some of the more substantial commercial buildings and houses have simple 19th century details, especially in the woodwork trim and window treatment, and by far the most pretentious structure is the Madison County Courthouse which, from the east end, dominates the main street (Continued) 1 SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW —PREHISTORIC _ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNITY PLANNING _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _RELIGION — 1400-1499 _ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC —CONSERVATION —LAW —SCIENCE — 1500-1599 _AGRICULTURE —ECONOMICS —LITERATURE —SCULPTURE — 1600-1699 —ARCHITECTURE —EDUCATION —MILITARY —SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN — 1700-1799 _ART —ENGINEERING —MUSIC —THEATER X_1800-1899 _COMMERCE X_EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY _TRANSPORTATION — 1900- —COMMUNICATIONS —INDUSTRY " X_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT —OTHER (SPECIFY) —INVENTION SPECIFIC DATES BUILDER/ARCHITECT ___________1863-1875___________________________________________________ STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Virginia City, the Territorial Capital of Montana from 1865-1875, was the center of a string of mining camps which lined Alder Gulch, the site of one of the big gest gold strikes in the northern Rockies. During its boom years Virginia City itself may have had a population as large as 10,000, while the placer mines in the gulch produced an estimated $40,000,000 in gold in that first decade. In its heyday Alder Gulch was lined for nearly twelve miles by prospecting camps-- Centerville, Adobe, Nevada City, Adobetown, Junction, Ruby, and back from the creek, Central City. In later years these were all burned, torn down or covered up when larger-scale mining operations reworked the areas with dredges. Although still county seat, Virginia City, the sole survivor of the Alder Gulch camps, has only a few hundred permanent residents and has for most of the year the appear ance of the classic western ghost town. However, the historic mining town survives due to considerable1 preservation work and tourist activity which ndw reawakens Virginia City each summer. Virginia City, even in the early days, was the official center of activity in Alder Gulch and contained at least half the inhabitants. Soon after the first temporary settlement there, and with the quick prosperity of the Gulch, more substantial buildings were built along Virginia City's Wallace Street and fortunately a number of these remain today. Some of these are of brick and stone with typical 19th century details, but most were built of makeshift materials of logs or wooden clapboards now weathered silver, and many were false-fronted commercial buildings that became the trademark of frontier town main streets. During its boom period Virginia City was closely associated with one of the famous vigilante^ groups of the mining era, organized to rid the town of the notorious road "agent gang led by Henry PIummer. After the capital was removed to the rival mining town of Helena, in.s;LaSt Chance Gulch, the population and prospecting activity of Virginia City rapidly dwindled. However, although the population dropped from about 2500 in the 1870s to 6.pO in 1890 to 380 in 1940, the town remained the county seat and some mining activity has continued periodically in the area ever since. This minimal activity has managed to keep the town barely alive, and consequently preserved the center of Virginia City from the fate of the other camps in the gulch. (Continued) MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES (See continuation sheet) 3GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY approximately 20., 000 acres UTM REFERENCES A ll i2 I Ui ?i ?l fil fit H |5 iOh Ri Q UI2. 7l9. 3. Ol 15 .0 11.51 7. 8, Q| ZONE EASTING NORTHING EASTING '-- j NORTHING c|l |2 I Ul2i6l6i 81 d l5 iOlli5l8i 7. ol Ul2i5llt5i Ol l5 iOili3l56i Ol VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION E-12.424230.5015550 F-12.425130,5017080 (See continuation sheet) LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE CODE COUNTY CODE STATE CODE COUNTY CODE FORM PREPARED BY NAME/TITLE Blanche Higgins Schroer, Landmark Review Project; Ray H. Mattison 1958 ORGANIZATION DATE Historic Sites Survey, National Park Service________ STREET & NUMBER TELEPHONE 1100 "T." St. N. W. C2021523_5464_ CITY OR TOWN STATE Wa<;hi ncrtrm . D . C. STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS: NATIONAL__ STATE___ LOCAL___ o[- in As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Pre' rvation Act of 196^ (Public Law89t665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify eWuated accordin to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURE J_f A 1 j LJ luAl't Xi. W> ) Form No. 10-300a (Rev. 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM CONTI NUATION SHEET__________________ITEM NUMBER y PAGE 2____________________ vista of little one and two story structures. Nearly all the wooden buildings on Wallace Street display the false fronts which were so characteristic of frontier town architecture, cottonwood

Load more